Nokia 808 PureView - What are the focus modes in the camera, and how should I use them?

A focus mode defines how the camera focuses to your target.

There are four focus modes in your phone camera:

Infinity. Use the infinity focus mode when you want to get sharp photos of very distant objects. This is mostly used for landscape photos. An additional benefit with this is that there is no latency as there is in autofocus. This focus mode can only be used in taking photos.

Hyperfocal (HF). Use hyperfocal focus to get the maximum depth of field (DOF), that is, to get the objects sharp starting from some meters up to far distances. For example, you might want to take a photo or record a video through a bus window. With hyperfocal focus you can avoid the camera focusing to the bus window. Another benefit with this focus mode is that there is no autofocus latency, which is an advantage when taking sports or action photos. You might want to use hyperfocal focus in specific cases, as focus is kept stable all the time. Hyperfocal focus is not suitable for close-up photos or videos.

Close-up. In close-up focus mode the autofocus is adjusted for short distances (~15 cm – 50 cm). When you want the best possible performance on short distances, and you plan to shoot a set of close-up photos, use this focus mode. For recording videos with this focus mode, continuous autofocus (CAF) works for distances from ~15 cm to 80 cm.

Automatic. For most photos and videos, the automatic focus mode works very well, if you do not want to adjust anything. When taking photos with the camera key, autofocus works on distance range from ~25 cm to infinity, throughout the zoom range. Touch focus works on full distance range, that is, from ~15 cm to infinity, throughout the zoom range as well. When recording videos with the automatic mode, continuous autofocus (CAF) works for distances from ~50 cm to infinity.

When taking photos or recording videos, focus to a close distance, if you want to get a shallow depth of field (DOF) with a nice and smooth bokeh-effect on the background.

To change the focus mode when taking photos, make sure you are in the Creative shooting mode, then tap and hold the screen and select the focus mode.

To change the focus mode when recording videos, make sure you are in the Creative shooting mode, then tap the Continuous autofocus (CAF) icon at the bottom left corner of the viewfinder to switch continuous autofocus off. When the continuous autofocus for video recording is off, the camera uses hyperfocal focus mode.